I finished the first season of 'The Shield' last night. Burned through all 13 episodes in about a week. Very entertaining show! I love the frenetic camera work, and Chiklis does a great job. Prior to this show, I was only familiar with him from The Fantastic Four movies. It's also interesting to see a much younger Walton Goggins. I've always liked his character on 'Justified'.

It's funny to hear you say that about Chiklis, when I first watched the Shield I had only seen him in The Commish and it took me quite a few episodes to get that out of my head.

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The final season of The Shield was the most tense and suspenseful television viewing I have ever experienced. Before there was Walter White, Vick Mackey was the original "Why the hell am I rooting for this guy?" guy.
That being said, you can't go wrong choosing either one.

In my opinion, The Wire was gripping and very well executed TV and, like many others, rank it right up there with the best that's ever been on TV.

That being said, I was much more a fan of The Shield and found it to be much more 'entertaining' TV. And I have to give a nod to Timbeau, my prior exposure to Chiklis was strictly from The Commish - took a wee bit of getting used to, but he made me forget that role rather quickly and he 'became' Vic Mackey.

The Wire wins for me. Large ensemble where nearly everyone has a story and depth of character. It's as much about the life of a city as the people in it. Not just the cops vs dealers story of the first season.

The Shield has the smaller enseble, but centers on them. Definitely more action for the primaries!

Both worthy choices. As noted by others, Homicide: Life on the Street is another winner though a bit more procedural. Great "intro" to Baltimore and The Wire

The Wire. All the accolades are spot on. The Shield was also great, but it was a 4 or 5-time All Star performer compared to The Wire being a no-doubt-about-it 1st ballot HOF and on the very short list for greatest player ever. The thing about The Wire that made it so compelling for me is that it immerses the viewer into a subset of society that most viewers would not otherwise experience, much less inhabit.

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Holy crap! My heart is still racing. The scene where Shane kills Lem was really hard to watch. Just heartbreaking stuff. Out of all the Strike Team guys, Lem was easily the most likable. I'm still in utter disbelief that they killed him off.

What a great show! I can't wait to see what happens in the last two seasons.

I almost clicked it too, but then noticed the "last two seasons" comment; the Wire only had 5 seasons. Still it would be best to be very clear about what show you're spoiling when there are more than one in the subject.

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Your spoiler is for The Shield but I assumed it would be for The Wire based on your post immediately before it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jradosh

Yeah, that would have been good to know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by madscientist

I almost clicked it too, but then noticed the "last two seasons" comment; the Wire only had 5 seasons. Still it would be best to be very clear about what show you're spoiling when there are more than one in the subject.

My sincere apologies, guys. I had accidentally typed "The Wire" in the first post, when I meant to type "The Shield". I haven't actually watched any of The Wire yet. Since nobody had commented since my last post, I mistakenly thought my second post was an extension of the first. I went back and edited both of my posts to avoid any future confusion. Once again, I'm very sorry if this spoiled anything for anyone.

My sincere apologies, guys. I had accidentally typed "The Wire" in the first post, when I meant to type "The Shield". I haven't actually watched any of The Wire yet. Since nobody had commented since my last post, I mistakenly thought my second post was an extension of the first. I went back and edited both of my posts to avoid any future confusion. Once again, I'm very sorry if this spoiled anything for anyone.

Any thoughts on a potential correlation between preference for "The Shield" or "The Wire" with geographic location of the viewer? The cities in which the shows take place are, from what I gather, important characters in their own right. This is certainly true for "The Shield"; I haven't watched "The Wire" so I can't attest to it myself, but everything I've read about it suggests that it really captures the feel of Baltimore.

I grew up all over SoCal, and while I didn't hang out, go to school, or work in the parts of L.A. that are like Farmington, I recognize various locations in the show, and the ethnic/racial tensions that underlie so many of the arcs.

Any thoughts on a potential correlation between preference for "The Shield" or "The Wire" with geographic location of the viewer? The cities in which the shows take place are, from what I gather, important characters in their own right. This is certainly true for "The Shield"; I haven't watched "The Wire" so I can't attest to it myself, but everything I've read about it suggests that it really captures the feel of Baltimore.

I grew up all over SoCal, and while I didn't hang out, go to school, or work in the parts of L.A. that are like Farmington, I recognize various locations in the show, and the ethnic/racial tensions that underlie so many of the arcs.

Good question. Having never been to either place, I'm interested to hear input from those who have.

Any thoughts on a potential correlation between preference for "The Shield" or "The Wire" with geographic location of the viewer? The cities in which the shows take place are, from what I gather, important characters in their own right. This is certainly true for "The Shield"; I haven't watched "The Wire" so I can't attest to it myself, but everything I've read about it suggests that it really captures the feel of Baltimore.

I grew up all over SoCal, and while I didn't hang out, go to school, or work in the parts of L.A. that are like Farmington, I recognize various locations in the show, and the ethnic/racial tensions that underlie so many of the arcs.

I grew up, went to school in a few locations in the L.A. area; even had a couple of stints residing in L.A. jails. I later worked at a few L.A. locations. I don't think that really enhanced my love for The Shield much, just thought it was a great drama. What really got me about The Shield was something similar to what I loved in Breaking Bad and Justified and Dexter to some degree:

Spoiler:

I was rooting for the bad guys

I've never been to Baltimore, but I've always suspected The Wire was very realistic almost to the level of a documentary. I really liked The Wire, and thought it educational and entertaining; a great combination, but where The Shield is in my top 10, The Wire is in 20-30 range.

I saw The Shield on TV when it aired, then later heard about The Wire and watched the DVDs. I think, and this might be a good warning for those intending to watch The Wire, the hyperbole I read about The Wire prior to watching might have hurt my impression. I really enjoyed it but not as much as I expected to enjoy it.

In either case I don't think my knowledge of the location helped or hurt my enjoyment. Arrested Development on the other hand probably was more enjoyable due to being familiar with the location.